A typical food product slicer includes a rotating slicer knife and a carriage that holds food product. The carriage moves back and forth past the rotating knife to cut slices. The cover plate is positioned over the slicer knife such that food product on the carriage slides across the face of the cover plate as the carriage moves past the knife in the cutting stroke and as the carriage moves in a reverse stroke. Typical prior art cover plates are mounted to the slicer using either a threaded knob, spring-loaded plunger or a knob with cam features. To install/uninstall the top cover, a slicer operator rotates the knob or pulls the plunger to lock/unlock the top cover from the slicer. There is at least one moving part associated with the top cover for the install/uninstall functions.
It would be desirable to provide a food product slicer with a cover plate configuration that facilitates simple installation, removal and cleaning of the cover plate.